The Xinjiang Initiative

Xinjiang, in north-west China, is home to a number of ethnic groups including the Uyghur, Kazakhs and Hui. Like those in Tibet, another so-called Autonomous Region, these minorities face levels of repression much higher than those living in the rest of the People’s Republic. Sadly, in Xinjiang’s case there has been little international attention.

Over the past year I have learnt a lot about Xinjiang and heard some harrowing stories.  The Chinese Communist Party’s rule in Xinjiang  is truly totalitarian.

Earlier this month, it was good to see the issue put on the front page of the New York Times as such attention is long overdue. I was also pleased to be emailed about another project relating to the region.

The Xinjiang Initiative seeks to create a community of academics to raise awareness of the situation in Xinjiang through public talks. The model statement reads as:

“I am one of over one hundred scholars and others who have agreed to make the following statement at public events. We would like to bring to everyone’s attention to the fact that several hundred thousand, possibly over a million, Uyghurs and members of other ethnic minorities are being held indefinitely in extra-judicial internment camps in Xinjiang, China. These are arbitrary detentions, based not on suspicion or proof of any crime, but rather solely on religious and ethnic persecution. These detentions not only violate international human rights standards, but also have no proper basis even in Chinese law. Facing a situation like this, China scholars and the broader academic community cannot remain silent.”

More information about the Xinjiang Initiative can be found here.